This is a difficult question to answer, as the idea of a social network came out of an initially boring necessity.
However, the idea of a online presence for a business was an extremely powerful one that revolutionized how businesses could interact with consumers.
The term “social network” was not coined until the 1990s, when computer scientist Vint Cerf, wrote a paper entitled “Communications: An Approach Based on Information Theory”.
In that paper, Cerf described a protocol called chat; the idea being that a person typing in a chat window would be connected to a person typing on the other end.
It was hoped this would make it easy for two people to exchange information, making communication fast and easy.
Fast forward a few years and MIT computer scientist, Bob Kahn, had already developed a technology called “lookup tables”.
Basically, it involved finding which letter would cause the information to be sent out (for example, @).
This technology allowed people to chat online, so long as they used particular words
The idea behind the use of a “lookup table” in a chat window was that it allowed the person typing to look up words, and then see whether they have been typed before.
The word @ could be used to look up “a”, “of”, “is”, “were”, “have”, “were”, “are”, “were”, “are not”, and “are” in order to find out who had just typed them.
So, it is possible to know what has been typed before you without ever having to read the actual words.
Why was a “social network” the right concept?
Some people argue that if you can simply type a message, then you shouldn’t even bother looking at the person’s screen.
A Twitter/Facebook user might be able to input a string of words and have a reply instantly, which means there is no reason for a user to look at the other person’s screen.
In this way, it is argued, the theory behind a social network is effectively useless, because a user can simply write a string of words and post it without any input from the other person.
In comparison, it is argued that in order for people to have a conversation, there needs to be input from the other person.
Even if you type text, it can still be difficult for a computer program to interpret the words and meaning they contain.
A person needs to be present and able to interpret what has been typed, otherwise it is simply a garbled mess.
Social networks actually need interaction and a human being present to get anything from them.
If a chat window is unidirectional, it is useful for one-way communication.
If it is unidirectional, it is not useful for two-way communication.
In order to communicate one-way, it needs to be unidirectional, and it needs a human being to interpret what has been typed.
In order to communicate two-way, it needs input from the other person.
Social networks were the idea of a chat room
In this article, we will look at the evolution of how social networks have been used, as well as the current rise of social media.
This is what social networking looks like today.
Developments
Some experts have split traditional social networks into two categories. We will look at each separately.
Traditional Social Network Examples Examples include:
- AIM
- Messenger
- Yahoo! Messenger
- Google Plus
- MySpace
Content-Based Social Network Examples Examples include:
- FriendFeed
- Digg
- Foursquare
- Google Buzz
- Facebook Groups
At present, people tend to use social networks to post content on the Internet (such as photos, links, or messages).
Content-based social networks work by having people up- or down-vote posts, so that the most popular posts rise to the top.
Unlike traditional social networks, content-based social networks have multiple levels of interaction and the entire content does not need to be public.
People can subscribe to other people’s channels and receive notifications when new posts are added to these channels.
At the same time, people can subscribe to channels for individuals and groups, and receive notifications when new posts are posted on these channels.
This type of social network allows people to create private spaces to talk to their friends without creating private networks that are accessible to the entire public.
This is the most popular form of social network.
It has the benefits of content-based social networks, but with the flexibility of a channel-based social network.
Videos
One of the most interesting developments in social networks has been the rise of video.
Users are spending more and more time on social media, and are interested in watching videos. It allows them to engage in an activity without having to type or write.
All major social networks now offer some form of video streaming capability.
In many cases, you will need to be logged in, but usually the process is seamless.
People are turning to Facebook for video-streaming services. Last month, a couple of engineers at Facebook launched a free service called Tube.
This service allows you to stream your personal videos in standard definition resolution to any device or browser.
Tube was launched because Facebook was already working with a number of video providers, including Vine and Snapchat.
But Facebook still wanted to be able to offer their users something more.
Tube uses HTML5, which makes it compatible with any browser. However, it may not be compatible with all devices.
Also, the quality of the video depends on the speed of your Internet connection. You may not be able to stream video with high quality, depending on the speed of your connection.
When you are ready to play a video, you simply click a button on the website and it will start streaming.
You can also switch the location of the video to where you are located.
